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Many bucket lists include Patagonia, but where is Patagonia exactly? It is not a city or a specific national park, but an immense geographical region which more or less spans across the southernmost third of both Argentina and Chile. This is our second home, yet we continue to discover hidden gems, away from the typical tourist hit list like Torres del Paine National Park, the Perito Moreno glacier in El Calafate and the well-trodden trails of El Chalten.
While we are often busy hosting travellers who visit us from November to April (the best months to visit Patagonia), we try our best to spend time for our own adventures, which eventually become your adventures too.
The family-owned estancias of Baguales and La Cumbre sit side by side in the Sierra Baguales mountain range located along the border with Argentina. The dry arid zone and dark jagged peaks here offer landscapes unlike Torres del Paine National Park. It's pretty wild tryhing to imagine that millions of years ago, the Atlantic Ocean once covered this entire area, and the retreat of the ocean and glaciers of the Ice Age left behind fossils. Epic is probably the most fitting description of this place. What seems like a world away from our seasonal Chilean base (but in fact only a two hour drive) in an awe-inspiring mountain range carved out of basalt. These are the family's summer pastures in the highlands for their sheep and cows. When my sister visited us from Singapore, we spent two days on horseback with our guide, Trisha, and it was a true blue Patagonian experience - riding with a mix of sunshine and snow, sometimes on non-existent trails as we had to navigate river crossings and meadows which were saturated by the melting snow as summer approaches. There was no one else in sight for two days. Being here amongst the rugged peaks of Sierra Baguales on our own reminded me how remote Patagonia can be.
Closer to Puerto Natales, the rock walls near Laguna Sofia are a popular spot for the local climbers, but this area is also home to ancient rock paintings known as pinturas rupestres and quite a few Andean condors. Jorge, one of the land owners, created a 4-hour hiking trail through his property. We liked how dynamic the trail is, with a good mix of Nothofagus forest along an undulating path which took us close to the rock faces at times, and to view points high above Laguna Sofia as well. These are some of the best places to observe condors in flight! The end of November is a pleasant time to visit southern Patagonia, even though the weather is not always stable. On sunny days like the day we hiked the Rupestre trail, we even had views of the Last Hope Sound and the mountains which line the fjord while walking amongst the red blooms of the neneo macho bushes.
Another recent discovery is Patagonia National Park (Parque Nacional Patagonia), one of Chile's most important rewilding projects, located in northern Patagonia's Aysen region. Tompkins Conservation acquired the former Estancia Chacabuco, previously one of the largest ranches in the country, and donated it to the state. The aggregation of this estancia, with the former Tamango and Jeinimeni Reserves, created what is now the Patagonia National Park since 2018. This place is not the easiest to get to, requiring a 6 hour drive from Balmaceda airport, but the journey was worthwhile. The drive to the park followed the shores of Lago General Carrera, then the extremely blue waters of Rio Baker and eventually the steppes in the western part of Chacabuco Valley. I highly recommend second-time visitors to Chile to spend time in northern Patagonia, which offers truly off the beaten path hiking trails and extremely scenic drives!
We stayed at Explora Parque Patagonia, the only luxury lodge option in the area, and a place steeped in history and Douglas Tompkins' vision for conservation. Using the lodge as our base camp, we explored different parts of the park, as well as other neighbouring villages like Puerto Gaudal where we visited an interesting permaculture centre, as well as Cochrane where we went on a boat trip down one of the clearest rivers in the world.
I can't wait for another season of discovery when we return to Chile this November. On my bucket list are some of the reserves which make up the Route of Parks, a series of 17 national parks in Chilean Patagonia. Which ones are on your wish list?
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